Sinful Love
by SoulsSwords
Summary: Hanae and Ayumi are two girls deeply in love. Hanae is a bright and cheerful senior and Ayumi is a more shy junior, they are a perfect balance for each other's happiness. But Junko, a long-time classmate doesn't like what's going on between them and makes an effort to try and "help" Hanae...This is when Ai becomes involved. ONE SHOT


**Souls_&_Swords: A one shot I've been itching to write. This is based on one of my old favorite anime shows **_**Jigoku Shoujo (Hell Girl)**_**. This may be quite emotionally intense or deep (like most of my stories), just a warning. Sorry for the monstrous length. I wanted to keep this a one shot. WARNING: Remain open-minded and neutral about other's beliefs when reading this. Everyone is entitled to their own opinion…just express it nicely if you review… *Hides***

The rapid tapping of the letters on the keyboard, the blinding light of her desktop screen turned the adolescent's eyes red and tired. She had been trying for the last half hour, but the Hell Correspondence just wasn't showing up.

**404 error**

**Not found**

The girl remained optimistic, she sat there in darkness, midnight was nearing, "_It's gotta exist!_" she thought to herself, "_Rumors start for a reason!_" She typed into the search engine once again **Hell Correspondence**, and tapped enter with her index finger. The pretty young woman leaned back in her chair, her eyes were getting droopy, but then instead of the white error screen, it darkened. A flame ignited and then diminished, loading another search engine with above it the words,

**I shall take revenge on your behalf**

She leapt up, reinvigorated and quickly typed the name as she watched the letters form across the tablet. This girl Hanae, was a surprisingly different person outside of her home, she was a spirited and lively girl among her peers. A majority of them she'd known since childhood. The high school student walked across the campus to her first class, her messenger bag propped on her hip, her medium, layered black hair had a pin in it to keep her bangs out of her eyes, and she was in a navy blue school uniform.

With a smile, Hanae greeted her circle of friends, one in particular she was most eager to see, "Ayumi!" she shouted, darting over. A girl, just one year her junior, brushed her brown hair aside and happily greeted her,

"Hanae!"

Hanae reached into her bag, taking out a small bag, "Happy birthday Ayumi!" she graciously accepted the gift, excited to know what it was,

"Oh, what is it?" Hanae held the top ends of the bag together,

"Open it later, when we're together!" she beamed, "I've got to get to class now, but I'll see you later!" she waved, rushing up the steps,

"Oh, alright." Ayumi frowned, she always got to spend time in the morning before class with her, and she hated it whenever Hanae had early volunteer hours to work on. She did indeed, as she promised her physics teacher that she'd help grade papers. She fled up the stairs and when she turned around the corner, she bumped into a scrawny young girl with her hair in pigtails; Hanae made her drop her flyers.

"Oh, Junko, I'm sorry." She apologized. Junko moved in around middle school, she was nice enough, but Hanae didn't necessarily want to be her best friend…Junko knelt down, gathering the brochures for her church,

"Oh, it's fine, I was probably going to drop them at some point today anyway." She giggled. Hanae read the cover of the flyer; _Our Lord is here to help you atone for your sins!_

She cringed a bit, Junko noticed, her eyes were large like an owls, "What's wrong?" she shook her head,

"Oh, it's nothing. I'll see you later." She then rushed to her first class. Her first teacher was a kind man, not too intimidating. He understood if she wasn't there in time, usually.

"Ah, Hanae, just in time, your last test was quite impressive!" he cheerfully wrote on the black board the day's formulas. She set her bag down on her desk,

"Oh, that's a relief, I thought I did horrible." She grinned. In the pouch of her bag, lied a small, black straw doll with a scarlet thread around it. The night before, just after submitting the name, a girl, probably younger than Hanae herself appeared before her.

…

In a black school uniform, long black hair, ruby red eyes, she introduced herself in a cold, emotionless tone, "My name is Ai Enma."

"The girl from hell…" Hanae mumbled to herself. Without any fear, she stepped closer to the phantom-like being, "So you do exist." She went to hold out her hand and touch her shoulder, but Ai halted her, offering her the exact doll she now hid in her pack.

"Take this." Hanae did so, observing the small doll. "If you truly wish to seek revenge, untie that red string. You make a covenant with me as you remove it. The one you seek revenge upon shall be ferried straightaway to Hell." The requester nodded,

"Is that so?"

"However, once the revenge is made, you must make your end of the bargain." Hanae was suddenly caught off guard, "When one person curses another, two graves are dug; when you die, your soul shall also fall into Hell." The high schooler gasped, flinching a bit, "You will not be allowed to go to Heaven, your spirit left to wander in pain and suffering, never knowing true paradise."

Hanae looked back at the doll with the red string around its neck, clenching it tightly between her fingers. When she opened her mouth to speak to Ai, she was gone. Having vanished back into her own place in Hell, "That's after you die. The decision is for you to make." Hanae now had a better understanding of the situation now.

…

Ai hadn't told her that there was any time slot between then and her decision. She decided to leave it alone for now, keeping it with her in case the time was right. The lunch bell rang, a crowd of hungry students rushed onto the courtyards and cafeteria. Ayumi stood by the cherry blossom tree that the environmental club had planted. It was in full bloom.

The petals fluttered past the pale girl like snow, as she looked left and right for, Hanae! There she was. She waved joyously as she approached. "You didn't open it yet, did you?" she asked, sitting down with her tray that contained her meal. Ayumi took out the brown bag,

"No, I promised I'd wait for you to see!" she ripped open the small packaging of construction paper in the bag, only to find a small, square box. Upon slipping the pink ribbon off, Ayumi was entranced by the sight of it. Hanae slowed her chewing down and watched her reaction. Two matching silver bracelets lied inside on a cotton cloth. They weren't friendship bracelets however.

"I thought we should make it official." Hanae closed her tray, "It's about time our friends knew that we're together." She closed her eyes pleasingly, the shining sun on her face revealed an optimistic young woman. Ayumi's eyes widened, she looked at her girlfriend, which they've kept secret for nearly three months, with fright,

"But, Hanae! What if people start to bully you?" the junior worried. Hanae was a senior, she had been through the experience long enough to hold this much happiness,

"My friends know about my sexuality; they're already accepting." Ayumi scowled worriedly, she'd had yet to come out to her friends, let alone her family. The two girls were very different, Hanae was a bright and cheerful high school senior, who was close with her family and respected by her peers. Ayumi was a shy and reserved junior; she lived with her mother who, while loving, was over-protective and worrisome at times.

"I don't know…" Hanae then took her hand; she gently slipped on the matching bracelets on to her own, then her companion's wrist. She put them on so that if they held hands, the bracelets would look connected.

"Remember what I said; I'm here to protect you." She delighted, "Always." Ayumi smirked, perking up just more. Hanae's positive attitude had been contagious for the past year she'd known her. She envied her beauty and admired it at the same time, she remembered one of their first conversations;

…

"Wow, you sure are pretty, I bet you have a hard time keeping boys away from you."

Hanae snickered, blushing "Actually, I like girls." Ayumi paused, they were walking down the halls to their math class; Ayumi was an excellent math student and was ahead than most people in her grade,

"Oh, really?" she was so nonchalant about it…how? Ayumi always feared uttering that phrase around anyone. "That's…unexpected."

"Yeah, though it feels bad sometimes when boys come up to me trying to ask me out." She brushed her bangs aside, laughing, "But it's no problem at all!"

It wasn't long after that when Ayumi finally made her first attempt at coming out. It was a friend Cheiko, a girl she'd known her whole life, "Huh? What did you say?" They were out on the basketball court during their required physical education class,

She looked down, blushing. Her beige bangs covered her eyes, "I said that I…like girls." Cheiko, along with their other peers, stared in wonder, "This isn't anything new, I've felt this way for a long time." Her heart was pounding, "I was just never sure how-"

"Let's go." She heard a voice cut her off, she gazed in front of her to see the unfortunate sight of her friends walking away from her. The obloquy, the immaturity of those girls. Yet Ayumi blamed herself, she welted up,

"W-What did I do wrong?!" she cried, running back into the building. She changed back into her regular uniform and out of her P.E. clothes, she wanted to call her mother to pick her up, but she was at work and Ayumi didn't have the number memorized. She dashed through the halls searching for the bathroom; she darted past Hanae, who noticed her distressed expression.

"Hm? Ayumi?" she stopped, turning around revealing a grief-stricken face drowning with tears, "What's wrong?" the girl worried, taking her to a bathroom and wiping her tears with toilet paper.

"I tried to tell my friends…" Hanae raised a brow, "I tried to tell them…that I…" she panicked, was something wrong?

"You what?"

"That I'm like you." She tried to vaguely allude to her sexual preference, but Hanae didn't quite get it at first. She mustered a confused look,

"Like me?" she reverted back to her smiley output, "Oh! You mean les-"

"Shh!" she hissed.

"What's wrong with that? It's nothing to be ashamed of." She beamed, "It's not like loving the same gender is any different than loving the other gender." Ayumi's tears ceased; she was making sense of this. This was a conversation she could never have with her mother. "That's what my parents told me after I figured it out." Her beautiful features softened, lowering her voice a bit, "Girls love girls, girls love boys, and boys love boys; love is love." She began, "That's the motto in my house!"

Ayumi smiled deeply, they'd been inseparable ever since; and now on this day, Ayumi's sixteenth birthday, were they done hiding. Hanae, whom was seventeen, was more emotionally prepared than her girlfriend next to her. She'd have the most amazing girl she'd ever met by her side. And now Ayumi could shamelessly brag about her.

"Hanae, I'm ready." She smiled. The two embraced, lunch nearing its end. From a picnic table nearby Junko sat alone, watching them and eating with an unhappy expression

X-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-X

Hanae lied on her stomach on her bed, her legs waving back and forth in the air. She finished writing avidly, her wrist hurt; she slammed the graphite onto the paper before her. Finally, with a sigh and wiping the sweat from her forehead, she was done. Her Pre-Calculus homework was torture.

"Phew! Glad that's done!" she bounced back so her head landed on the pillow; now she could start her Advanced Placement Literature homework. Not now she thought, her brain needed a rest. The hopelessly cheerful girl looked at the nightstand to her right, the straw doll sat there, the red string untouched.

Hanae sadly began to think about her reasoning's for contacting Ai in the first place. It was only a week ago; Ayumi was out sick with pneumonia. Hanae thought since she had free time in her Mid-Term prep class, she'd write her a get well soon card with some flowers to go with it.

She'd only spoken to Junko once in the years they've known each other, and that was when new student from the Okinawa prefecture asked her for directions. But Junko had certainly spent time gathering data on her the moment she heard some…questionable rumors. The youthful looking girl stood up from her desk. She got Hanae's attention by putting her hand on the in-progress, lengthy letter.

"Hm?" Junko? What did she want? "Oh, hello Junko." She said with a frown, getting into her well-being card.

There was a brief pause of silence, but Junko looked worried. Everyone knew that if they came to Hanae with their problems, she'd listen, even give her best advice despite she probably hadn't been in the situation. "What's the matter?" she asked, concerned.

"I want to help you." She muttered in a serious tone. They'd been classmates for nearly five years and this was the first conversation she'd ever started with her. Hanae raised a brow, bitterly,

"What do you mean?" she put her pink mechanical pencil down. Now was time to be serious. Junko pulled a chair over in front of Hanae's desk. Trying to keep their voices at a minimum,

"I know you've been going through some issues the past year or so," she sounded so genuinely concerned, but it sickened the spirited girl in front of her, especially with how vague she was being,

"What issues?" Junko grabbed her hand, as if they were friends,

"It's understandable, I know people get confused about who they love and-"

"What?!" Hanae smacked her hand away and gathered her belongings. Not this bullshit. With a scowl, she threw her bag over her arm and left the class,

"Don't deny it! Everyone makes mistakes, even our lord!" Junko shouted, making a scene. Hanae bit her lip in anger and left.

Junko had been called for a private meaning in the counselor's office later that day, she had an idea why, maybe Hanae had come to her senses she thought. But when she arrived, only the counselor and the principal were there, looking quite stern, "Junko Irie, I understand that you have your own personal beliefs and are expressive of them." He crossed his arms, the girl sat there in nervousness,

"But, discriminating others and trying to change them is not part of our policy of free speech."

"I wasn't trying to hurt anyone Sensei; I only want to help Hanae through her struggle." He raised a brow, "She's made a terrible mistake…" her parents were extremely conservative growing up. While it wasn't her fault she came out this way, she was quite aggressive about her view on the world. The counselor was a gruff man; he put his palm over his face and sighed,

"Junko, you can't just go up to someone and tell them they need help." He asserted, "Only if they wish for it should you get involved." He sat upright, "If this happens again, I'll have to call in your parents." She solemnly nodded. How ungrateful that girl was she thought!

With an angry look she inched down the halls, she looked at her fellow senior laughing amongst her friends, joking around with each other by the drink machine. "She'll learn soon…of her horrible sin." She thought aloud.

The day immediately after, Hanae waltzed cheerfully up to the school like she normally did, but as she passed by, all eyes were on her. Some worried, some confused, some laughing. Hanae was amongst the confused crowd, "What's all this?" she wondered.

"Hanae!" Ayumi rushed towards her, she was breathless,

"Ayumi, what's wrong?" she caught her breath,

"They're all over the school!"

Upon entering, all over the walls of the hallways and classrooms were flyers for the church, but written on them in permanent marker, it said _Love the sinner, not the sin. Help Hanae Ikuyama!_

Junko! She made her look like she'd murdered someone! "Jeez Hanae, what'd you do to piss this person off?" a stranger chuckled. Hanae only stared in horror, she began frantically taking them down. Ayumi stood among her group of friends,

"Come on, let's help her!" they then scattered around the halls taking them down. Hanae had about five tucked in-between her arms, one even in her mouth. She looked around to see people gossiping and staring. Among them she saw the stoic Junko. Hanae spit the plastic-ish brochure onto the ground, angrily growling at her antagonist.

…

Hanae sat on her knees on her comfy bed, looking at the straw doll with sadness. Things had quieted down since then; she didn't care what people thought about her, as in a few months, she'd be graduated. The straw was for if Junko dared do anything to Ayumi. Above in her room, an eyeball watched and closed unseen. Ren Ichimoku turned to his comrade Hone Onna, "Hm, it doesn't seem this is for her own personal revenge, but rather if that girl tries to do something to her girlfriend."

Hone Onna was stunned, "Huh…so an act of righteous anger, no wonder the mistress accepted this."

"Humph." Ren thought about Wanyuudo, who was doing his job as the straw doll, "I wonder what he thinks of this." Hone Onna brushed her hair aside, revealing her portentous and gorgeous features,

"Well, I hope things work out for these two, it's such a tender subject."

"At least they're in a better generation for this kind of situation; people are more accepting than they used to be."

X-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-X

That next day in school, Ayumi and Hanae walked with their hands joined gracefully. Their matching silver bracelets reflected in the sunlight. Some didn't even bat an eyelash while others stared in awe and wonder. Hanae embraced the crowd with pride, while Ayumi bashfully lowered her head, "Hanae, I'm still nervous."

"Don't be. Remember, we're not doing anything wrong." Upon opening the hallway doors and entering, they were halted by a group of girls, Junko in the front. Oh god, what now? "What is it Junko?" they were still holding hands.

One of the girls behind her spoke, "What is it? It's you two!" Ayumi recoiled in fear, tightly grasping her loved one's hand, Hanae clasped her fingers gently around Ayumi's tightening the grip of her other hand around her bag's strap.

"Leave us alone; we haven't done anything to hurt anyone!" Ayumi envied her courage, she felt guilt as Hanae stood by her girlfriend, protecting her, "Junko, I went to the counselor the last time you did this and I'll do it again! If a parent conference isn't enough to end this then you'll be expelled!" it was more of a warning than a statement. Hanae hated being mean, but this was an act of defense.

"You think we care about getting suspended when one of our peers is going straight to hell?" Another girl approached. Hanae was suddenly reminded of the straw doll in her pack. "She was trying to be a friend to you Hanae!"

Junko stepped forward again, "If you two don't stop this act of sin right now, I'll contact the lord himself and ask that he deny your acceptance to heaven!"

"STOP IT!" Ayumi let go of her hand, engagingly pouncing forward, enraged, "We've never done anything to you! Why do you torment us?!" she was shaking with anger, hatred flowed through her blood, "No one can control who other people love or how they act, and sometimes trying to change them only makes it worse!"

Junko was flabbergasted, "Y-you…" her eye twitched,

"We're all humans! Just because think differently than you doesn't make us a bad person! Just ignore us if you don't like-" Junko suddenly slapped her down, leaving a red mark on her cheek. Hanae gasped with fright,

"Ayumi!" this had turned violent quickly,

"You…How dare you!" she bellowed, turning her full hateful glare to Junko and her gang, "Is THIS what you call justice? Hurting people and making them feel bad?"

"It was for our lord…" she turned around and began to walk away, the crowd followed. Hanae looked at her most cherished person lie on the floor, her cheek grew numb; Ayumi didn't feel anything as she rubbed it. Hanae clenched the doll from her bag and tugged it out.

"What's that?" Ayumi asked.

Hanae ripped the thread from the doll's neck and it disappeared,

_The revenge is granted _a voice whispered. Silence filled the dawn morning. Ayumi looked around confused, "Did you hear that…?" Hanae was lost and entranced; she felt a strange dizzying sensation but recovered a moment later.

…

Junko awoke on a dark ferry on a misty river, "What…what's all this?" Ai Enma stood above her rowing the boat.

"You're on your way to hell." The red-eyed girl said, her expression unchanging, her attention focused on the arch ahead of her.

The school girl panicked, "What?! But, the lord said I was only helping others! This has to be a mistake!" Ai didn't respond, "Turn it around! This isn't supposed to happen!" she went into a frenzy, but Ai only spoke,

"This vengeance shall ferry you to hell…"

…

On a peaceful evening on a Friday afternoon, things finally went back to normal for the couple. They sat underneath a tree at an open park. Ayumi rested her head on Hanae's whose eyes were locked on the beautiful lake ahead of them. They held hands with their matching bracelets in contact. "Hanae, I'm glad I trusted you." She whispered. Hanae smiled, as she never seemed to not be happy, and nodded.

"I'm glad that we're together." But her rare and occasional grimace formed with a gulp. Ayumi sat up,

"What's wrong?" Hanae slipped her dirt down slightly, revealing the flamed symbol on her upper chest,

"Ironically…in the end Junko gets what she wanted;" she closed her blouse, "I go to hell when I die." She masked her worries with a neutral glare. Ayumi only held her hand and smiled,

"Well then, I guess I'm going to have to make the rest of your life as happy as possible!" the two grinned and laughed together, enjoying the rest of their time together for the day.

A candle in hell was lit with the name _Hanae Ikuyama_ carved into the wax. Only when she died would the flame be blown out.

_Your grievance shall be avenged…_


End file.
